In his first White House appearance in a week, President Trump was asked about the status of a $1.8 billion fund intended to compensate participants in the Jan. 6 attack. He responded vaguely, claimed personal identification with the rioters, and launched an attack on the journalist, calling CNN corrupt and criticizing her demeanor.
In his first White House appearance in a week, Trump , 79, unleashed on Collins, 34, when he was asked a question about his $1.8 billion anti-weaponization fund, which had been set up to provide financial compensation to people involved in the Jan. 6 riots.
The future of the fund looks to be in doubt, with some Republicans even realizing it was election poison. On Wednesday, however, Trump was being vague about whether the bill had been officially axed. Speaking fondly about the bill, Trump began to rant about the people involved in the Jan. 6 riots having their “lives destroyed.
” The president then insisted, “I’m one of them,” referring to the 2021 FBI raid on his Mar-a-Lago home which he then called “a total fake. ”, the host played the problematic exchange—and noted that she had not even said anything yet. She said, “The president seemed clearly irritated when he was asked earlier today why his administration says it is not moving forward with that $1.8 billion anti-weaponization fund, as they have called it.
” Collins added, “And just to note, as you’re about to listen to this, this first exchange actually occurred before I had yet to ask the president a question. ”Indeed, Trump gestured to Collins, who had not asked the question, and began to berate the media in general before finding his usual targets.
“CNN’s crooked as hell, CNN’s a very corrupt organization, with a corrupt reporter standing right there, never smiles,” Trump said, gesturing to Collins. “She never... a young, beautiful woman never smiles. I never see a smile off her face. I see her standing there with hatred in her eyes.
” Collins later did ask Trump a question, in an attempt to clear up confusion over the bill which has been “Excuse me, Mr. President, just to clarify on what you were asked earlier,” Collins said.
“Is the $1.8 billion DOJ fund dead or is it on hold? ”“It’s, uh, I’d have to ask the lawyers. I don’t know,” the elderly president said.
“The weaponization fund, as far as I’m concerned, was a beautiful thing,” the president responded, before telling Collins, “I thought that was the greatest thing because people like you have abused our people so badly. The fake news like CNN, like the New York Times and like others, have abused our people. ” When Collins attempted to interject, the president snapped, “Wait a minute, be quiet. ” Trump then the CNN host, “You should be ashamed of yourself.
She used to be a conservative from Alabama, can you believe it? ”Trump continued his attack on CNN, saying, “Now they have new ownership maybe it’ll straighten it out, but I doubt it... it’s hard to straighten garbage out. ”The president said the people at the Capitol on Jan. 6 “are great people, people that went there with love... ” before slamming the Democrats, telling Collins, “There’s something wrong with them, there’s something wrong with you, it’s a shame.
”, Collins said, “Attacks aside, the news there is the president defending this $1.8 billion fund while pushing questions about whether or not the door is permanently shut to the attorneys in his administration. He himself never said whether or not it could potentially move forward. ”on Tuesday, Cohen asked Collins about Trump calling female reporters “stupid” and “pigs,” and asked if a journalist would ever “break” and fire back at the president.
“Maybe, I don’t know, right? ” Collins replied.
“Never say never, I guess. But I mean, I truly think as a reporter, you shouldn’t make it about yourself. ” Anderson Cooper also covered the issue on his show, saying Trump had done something “completely unwarranted” by “verbally attacking” Collins when she “did nothing to him ahead of it... at this point she was simply standing there doing her job.
” “That’s the president of the United States,” Cooper said, “a nearly 80-year-old man who has no problem commenting on her physical appearance and telling her she needs to smile. ”“No one‘s ever said that to me in an office setting. She was there, like every other journalist doing her job, standing around with a bunch of non-smiling men, by the way, all behind her... she gets singled out. ”
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